TV: Romil and Jugal

I blame our friend Nitin. He started me on this. While everybody else is binge-watching The Crown or Stranger Things, what have I got hooked on? Romil and Jugal. It’s loosely inspired by Romeo and Juliet, except the star-crossed lovers are two college boys in a hill station town in northern India. Their families aren’t so much feuding, although the fathers are rivals at work, and there’s a north/south Indian culture thing I’m just learning about, with Romil’s family being flambuoyant northerners while Jugal’s family are buttoned-up “Tam-Brahms” (the highest caste from Tamil Nadu). But of course the real crossed stars are the love that dare not speak its name. Sodomy is still a crime on the books in India (though the Supreme Court may reconsider the infamous “Section 377” this year). Romil and Jugal was originally planned as a feature film but they feared it would be butchered by the censor board that regulates films in India. Instead it was produced for streaming media which is less regulated. Not that it’s very racy at all, certainly by American standards. It’s a light-hearted soap opera, a little goofy, sweet in its earnestness, the boys are adorable, and it’s hard not to root for them. Of course I would think that, but judging by fan comments I’ve read, it really appears to be winning over a new generation in India. I saw many comments from people confessing they’d had negative attitudes about homosexuality but seeing this show helped them realize that love is love. This is exactly the sort of thing that turns tides, recognizing that love transcends arbitrary human bounds. Speaking of love stories crossing boundaries, there is one little hitch I should point out if you’re tempted to check it out. I’m watching it in Hindi. You can also get it in Tamil, Telugu, or Malayalam, but not in English. Not that I understand any Hindi, but it turns out that the way a lot of people naturally speak in northern India is more like “Hinglish”, Hindi with a lot of English mixed in. Between the action, expressions, tone, and the partial English, you can follow along enjoyably enough without knowing any Hindi. Love is love in any language. (Also, the first five episodes are free, but then you have to spring a few rupees.)

(Update: After watching 9 episodes without translation, I discovered there's an option for English captions by hitting a button on the lower right corner of the browser.)